Foundry Daily News

CA / UK - Firm's major Telford expansion plans 'not hit by Brexit'

A Canadian engineering giant that is building a huge new factory in Telford today said it does not expect its plans in the UK to be affected by Brexit.

Artists impression of new Magna International factory in Telford

Magna International announced last month that it was to open a new 225,000 sq ft aluminium castings facility on the T54 Business Park, creating almost 300 jobs for the town.

The company also took over the pressings specialist Stadco last year, and is building a role as a key supplier to Jaguar Land Rover thanks to its presence in Telford.

Following the result of the EU Referendum, a newspaper in Canada speculated over the future of the site, but Magna has now moved to reassure its UK workforce over its plans for the future.

In a formal statement, the company said: "At the moment we see no immediate effects on our business in Great Britain.

"It is too early to comment on possible future impact and anything further would be speculation at this point. As a global operating company Magna is prepared to adapt to economic and political changes."

Magna subsidiary Cosma International, which took over Telford body panels specialist Stadco last year, is to invest millions in the new factory, which is thought to be the region's second-biggest automotive development behind JLR's own engine plant nearby alongside the M54.

Work is expected to begin in the autumn on the site, with production up and running early in 2018.

The site is initially planned to provide castings for Jaguar Land Rover's assembly plant in Castle Bromwich.

And the company will have been calmed by JLR's own announcement earlier in the week that it too is not planning any major changes to its plans in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Although reports from before the referendum suggested that Brexit could wipe £1 billion from the car maker's profits by the end of the decade, strategy director Adrian Hallmark said the short-term effects would not alter its investment plans.